Key to Forever
by Nobodies Business
Summary: A day at the amusement park turns into the best day of their lives. But with prom right around the corner, there are those who seek to ruin what they've only just barely grasped. Collab story written role play style. Happy tenth Akuroku day!


Roxas looked in the mirror for a last minute hair check as he heard his doorbell ring. With one quick fix of his bangs, he dashed down the stairs, skipping every other step and opened it to see his secret crush and long time best friend, Axel.

The red head stood at the door, peeking in through the glass at the top of the door since he was so tall. It didn't show on his face, but he was nervous. After many weeks thinking about it, he decided was going to tell his best friend how he felt after their full day of roller coasters, puking their guts out and swimming. When Roxas opened the door the red head gave him a cat-like grin, acid green eyes piercing into his sky blue ones. "Yo Roxy, you ready?" He asked, walking in as if he owned the place, and in a way he did since he'd spent almost as much time in the blonde's house as he did his own.

"Yeah, let me just grab a jacket," Roxas shook his head with a laugh, desperately trying to hide his nervousness, but he had a good cover story. Axel had suggested going to the local amusement park a week ago, and as excited as he was to spend the entire day with someone so special, he was also terrified of coasters. Axel knew of this fear, but had convinced him to go anyway. Roxas knew if his nerves about his crush started to show, he could easily blame it on the rides. With that thought in mind, the blonde gulped down his deepest fear of a one sided love and yanked a sweater off the hanger from the hallway closet.

Axel stood by the door while he waited, looking out at the overcast sky while leaning against the wall. It was a perfect day, not so cold that they'll freeze and not so hot that they'd swelter to death. He fiddled with the zipper on his red vest, turning his attention to Roxas only when he knew the blonde wasn't looking. He had a crush, no, been in love with his best friend for years now, though he never thought Roxas would return his feelings. Axel feared something more than rejection, though. They were growing up, and soon enough they would end up parting ways, unless they somehow managed to go to the same college, and he didn't want things to go unsaid before that. "Looking good." He said with a smirk, twirling the keys to his corvette on his pointer finger and headed out to the driveway, opening the passenger door for Roxas. "Ladies first~" he told the blonde jokingly, laughing as he got into the drivers seat and brought his baby to life.

"What a gentleman," Roxas rolled his eyes in humor as he hide his blush by fastening his seat belt. "You're not going to force me on every roller coaster, are you?" Roxas asked, but he already knew the answer. His stomach was swirling, partly from anticipation and partly from the butterflies that the redhead gave him all too easily. The entire drive to the park, Roxas worked on a way to confess his feelings. He knew college was around the corner, time wasn't on his side, and Axel was just too precious to let slip away. But how? How could he confess something so big? What if the feelings he held so dearly weren't mutual? What if he only ended up throwing away the best friendship he had? As Axel parked, Roxas threw those fears away and stepped out of the sports car, knowing he had a long day ahead of him.

Axel's smirk only got wider, glancing at Roxas before speeding out of the driveway and down the streets. "Say goodbye to your guts, Roxy." He told the blonde about the coasters, nudging his friends' arm when he went to shift gears. Axel wouldn't let himself think about it too much, if he did he would lose his nerve for the whole day. But the pyro daredevil loved roller coasters, and they would be enough of a distraction. With haste he would practically drag Roxas by the arm to the ticket booth, paying for both of their tickets and they got their hands stamped before bee-lining to the first line of the day. It was a medium sized roller coaster that had Axel grinning ear to ear.

"Thanks, for my ticket." Roxas said gratefully as he shook in his nerves while waiting in line. The ride looked a lot scarier than the rides he would have preferred, but he was determined not to show weakness in front of his brave crush. "So," Roxas coughed, trying to distract himself but unsure what to say in such a situation. He was terrified, yet excited to be with Axel in such a lively place. "What do I get if I don't scream once on this ride?"

Axel could tell that Roxas was nervous, but he thought it was the rides, he after all had hated roller coasters since they were kids. "Relax. Everything'll be fine." He told the nervous man, clapping a hand on Roxy's back. "Hum... well well that's a tough question." He mused, looking around before bending over a bit so he was eye level with Roxas. "What about... a kiss?" He asked, in his most serious and seductive voice, gauging the blonde's reaction before straightening up and burst out laughing. "I'm just messin' with ya Roxy. Cmon!" He said as they got to the front of the line, and were soon strapped into their seats, being moved so their feet were dangling in midair.

The blonde couldn't believe his ears. When the seductive redhead had uttered the world 'kiss', he nearly jumped up to steal one right then and there. But when Axel had made a joke of it, Roxas knew he had no choice but to conceal his disappointment. Oh, what he would have given for an opportunity to meet such supple pink with his own. "A kiss?" He did his best to look weird-ed out. "Please, I'd rather go on that ride right there!" Roxas pointed to the scariest ride in the park, somehow knowing Axel was going to drag him on it regardless. As soon as he was buckled into his seat, his nerves became too much to shake off, literally, and he began to shake in his seat, not even bothering to calm himself down as his arms tensed and his heart raced. He looked to Axel, silently begging for comfort as he wished with all of his heart he could hop off the ride before it took off.

Axel couldn't help but smile at the ting of pink on the flustered blondes cheeks. Feeling proud of himself he looked up at the extreme roller coaster from his seat, giddy to ride it later that day. When he looked back over to Roxas and saw him shivering he would frown, putting a hand on his neck and massaged gently as they began to move. "Hey... it's okay." He comforted, moving his hand to squeeze Roxas' briefly until they were forced to let go as the ride spiraled downwards, the seats turning this and that way as they were mauled around, Axel laughing the whole time.

Roxas failed miserably at the task of not screaming on the ride, his throat aching and dry by the time the ride came to a halt. He felt more shame than he wanted to admit, but if Axel questioned the tear on his cheek, he had already planned on blaming the wind at the rate of which the coaster operated. He sniffled quietly, praying to go unheard by the laughing redhead next to him.

When he and Roxas got off the ride Axel was exhilarated, but not so much so that he didn't notice his blonde friend's distress. Axel threw an arm around the shorter male, taking them both to a bench to take a quick break, grabbing them both a bar of sea salt ice cream each. "Sure your ready for today Roxy? It's only been one ride and you look ready to go." He asked, kinda sad since he really didn't want this day to end so soon.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good." Roxas nodded but he couldn't fight the natural shiver that sent a wave down his spine. "The ice cream," He blamed the cold desert for his nerves that caused him to shake."Can we go on a less scary one after each big ride? Might help me last longer," Roxas smiled before his eyes widened. "Not like that kind of last longer!" he said, over compensating by laughing hysterically. "That- that would be weird," He gulped loudly. "So, which one next?"

If Axel's grin could've been any wider it would have been, pulling the blonde even closer before they sat down to eat their ice cream. "Oh Roxy baby, when I'm through with you, you'll be able to last all night long." He said, eyes waggling suggestively before pulling away and unwrapping his ice cream. "You can pick whichever one looks fun." He shrugged, licking at the already melting ice cream.

Roxas' eyes bugged out of his head as he felt his ice cream drip, yet unable to do anything about it. He was experiencing brain freeze, but not from the ice cream. He watched Axel lick the dessert, his stomach starting to ache with a jealous desire for the cold treat. He swallowed loud and hard, unsure what he could possibly say or do after such a calm nonchalant joke the redhead made all too easily. Had he no idea the torture it caused the blonde?

"Ferris wheel?" Roxas whispered, only choosing the ride because it was directly behind his tall friend, the only image he was able to look at. When Axel returned eye contact, Roxas blinked himself into reality. "That way we can finish our ice cream while we're on it." He added, attempting to play it cool with a shrug.

Axel turned his head towards the Ferris wheel and shrugged, pulling out his phone to shoot off a text. He had wanted to save it for later, but with how Roxas had been acting he couldn't deny his friend. "Yeah, sure." He left with the blonde over to the Ferris wheel, luckily the line was short so they were able to get onto the massive ride quickly. It was Axel's turn to be nervous, since although he loved the thrill of roller coasters, he hated heights, and the Ferris wheel was all about that.

Roxas looked over to his best friend, smirking calmly since it was now his turn to watch someone else be afraid. "You know, there are like a twenty small kids on this ride, and none of them look half as scared as you do." Roxas bit his lip to contain his chuckle. He was grateful Axel had at least agreed to go on the ride given his fear of heights, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Axel only gave his friend a half smile, looking up at the ceiling as the ride slowly climbed, stopping on and off to let other people on. When they were fairly far from the ground Axel let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, putting on a face that only Roxas could see through. "It's not that bad up here. The clear skies, that amazing view..." he said, though he only glanced at the scenery nervously before focusing on Roxas. "Y'know... We've been best buds for a long time now." He said, doing his best to pull himself together.

Roxas smiled along. "It's beautiful up here," Roxas pointed to the mountains off into the distance beyond Axel, and when the redhead turned to look, the blonde took his time gazing at his beautiful pale neck and soft silky hair. "It's been what? Eight years since we met? Man, time flies by." The blonde shook his head with a smile. That smile soon faded when the Ferris while stopped at the very top with a sudden jerk. The basket jolted harshly as Axel rushed his hands to the safety bar. Roxas found himself to be startled but not for more than just a few moments until he regained his composure. He laughed it off as a familiar sounding ride attendant apologized over a microphone for the inconvenience, estimating at least a ten minute wait as Roxas sighed. "Well, might as well get comfortable," he shrugged before he turned to Axel, noticing how his fingers were glued to the handle bar before him.

Axel gripped hard onto the bar for dear life, the jerk had caused him to look over the edge and his muscles went rigid. "Don't think there will be any getting comfortable here, partner." He told Roxas, voice shaky as he tried to grasp at his nerves. He pulled away slowly, swallowing thickly and made himself sit back on the sofa seat that was in the dome chamber, keeping his eyes on Roxas to keep from panicking, their gazes meeting. "Listen man... there's something you should know." He said, too terrified by the heights at the moment to worry about the consequences of what he was about to do.

"Oh, okay." Roxas straightened himself up, wondering what it was that Axel had to say that was so important that it overrode his fears. "You alright?" Roxas titled his head, enjoying the vulnerability in Axel's face since it was so rare a sight, but it came at the cost of Axel being that much more uncomfortable. That in itself started to make Roxas nervous, but he was too eager to hear what Axel had to say to let his curiosity ruin the moment.

"I uhh..." Axel started, rubbing the back of his neck some and looked away from his friend. His hands were sweating, nails digging into the palms of his hands. "You know that prom dance coming up? The last one?" He asked, pulling out a small black box and tossed it at the blonde casually, cheeks staining pink. Inside was a black key with a sapphire and a diamond set in the handle, a stainless steel chain around it so he could wear it. "Don't suppose you'd... wanna be my date would ya?"

Roxas caught the black jewelry box with utter bewilderment, not even opening it until Axel finished his question. "You- you're asking me to prom?" The blonde couldn't believe his words. Surprise was an understatement. Could this be a cruel joke? Did Hayner put him up to this? Roxas gulped as his trembling fingertips slipped on the case, the sweaty evidence of his nervousness prohibiting him from opening the case swiftly. With another attempt the lid popped upwards, revealing the beautifully crafted key. "A key? A key to what?" Roxas forgot to answer Axel's prom invitation due to the distraction of his elegant gift.

Axel would shrug, swallowing thickly and nodded. "Yeah. Guess I am." He said, glancing at the key and then up to Roxas' eyes. "That's a key to whatever you want it to be a key for." The Ferris wheel jerked in that moment, sending Axel to grab onto the back of the couch, his fingers digging into the faux leather fabric.

Roxas looked to Axel, concerned for his crush's comfort, and so confused as to how fate handed him such a situation-here was his secret love, heart and key in hand, and all the blonde had to do was say yes. Yes. Why hasn't he said 'yes' yet? "Yes!" Roxas' brained caught up with his body as he blurted his answer. "Yes, yes, I- I would love to go to prom with you," Roxas grasped his new treasure in his hand, the key warm in his closed fist. "Axel?" The shorter man inquired delicately. "It's okay. The ride, we're going down now. It's almost over." Roxas put a shakily nervous hand on the redheads knee.

Axel didn't respond right off the bat, slowly pulling his hands off of the seat as it seemed the dome was going to stop shaking. But the ride would begin to move and stop instead, giving both Axel and Roxas a firm jerk, tossing them both to the other side of the car with Axel's body covering the blondes. He groaned, running a hand through spiky red locks and leveraged himself onto his elbows, only to find that Roxas' face was extremely close to his. "Roxas..." He sighed, acid green meeting sky blue for the first time in a new light. His tongue swiped over his bottom lip before pressing both if his onto the blonde's awaiting ones in a soft, innocent kiss.

Roxas' eyes closed happily, his lips being introduced to a new found joy as he felt Axel's warm pink stamp. Roxas sighed, unable to control it even if he noticed he hadn't. "You have no idea how many times I played that through in my head, wishing it was real." Roxas chuckled nervously. When the basket made another stop, just one away from freedom, Roxas held the box up for Axel, silently yet obviously asking for the redheads help to place the necklace around his grateful neck.

The red head would look down at Roxas below him, and when the blonde spoke his long lanky fingers would run through blond locks. He smashed his lips down on his blonde's soft ones passionately, smiling at the thought. His blonde. "Oh I may have some idea, partner." He said, sitting back in his knees in between Rxas' legs when the Ferris wheel jerked once more, taking the black box and motioning for him to turn. Once Roxas had his back to him he leaned down and gave his neck a small peck, quickly and gently putting the small silver chain around the blonde's neck and fastened it before getting up off the ground of the car. He waved to the ride operator, who just happened to be Larxene, with a wide telling grin. Roxas shivered in excitement as the cold metal chain made contact with his skin. The hairs on the back of his neck tickled as he felt Axel's lips grace his body. "I can't wait to go to prom with you." Roxas smiled, trying to contain the joy within his heart. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the refreshing breeze that made Axel's fire red mane wave just gently.

"Same." The red head said, wrapping an arm around shorter shoulders and gave them a squeeze. They stepped off of the Ferris wheel when they finally hit the ground, causing Axel to let out a breath of relief and his muscles to visibly tense. Larxene scrunched up her nose and held out her hand to the red head. "Yeah yeah that's so sickeningly cute. Now pay up Ax, the manager yelled at me twice for stopping the ride like that." she told him, popping pink bubblegum she's been chewing. The redhead chuckled and fished out a fifty from his front pocket, handing it to the lemon haired woman before leaving with his Roxy in tow.

"Thanks," Roxas said once Axel had paid their fellow schoolmate, a girl he often didn't get along with, but she did allow them to enjoy their ride more exclusively. Roxas walked as close as he could next to the redhead, wanting to sneak a way to hold his hand, but unsure if perhaps that would speed up the pace too much. He wanted Axel, but he didn't want to scare him away. He knew he needed to be patient, but the idea of waiting for something he wanted so badly just didn't seem fair. "So, what are the odds we can go on the Ferris wheel again?" Roxas asked, partially as a joke, partially just hoping to get more privacy with Axel. When the redhead gave him a glaring pout of fake anger, Roxas laughed. "I was just joking, honest! I know you hate heights, but you went on this for me. I guess it's my turn to return the favor. Which coaster are we going on first?" Roxas asked, knowing that if his true fear broke through, Axel would offer his hand.

"Well..." the red head pondered, tapping his chin to make the selection more dramatic. He already knew which one he was gonna drag the blonde on after ten minutes of hell and heaven thrown into one, grinning evilly and looking out of the corner of his eye at his favorite, and the scariest ride. It had complete ninety degree angle drops, and the majority of it was in the dark. "Let's go!" He said, grabbing the blonde's hand and headed to the intimidating ride before any protests could be made.

"Axel, wait wait wait wait wait wait!" The words came up like vomit as Roxas ran as fast as he could to keep up with his taller half. "I- I don't know if I can, this doesn't seem like a good warm up ride, I don't think I should." Roxas fidgeted uneasily as they made their way to the line. Once they entered the que, Roxas looked to Axel, looking for inner strength in the way that he felt a need to impress his date. He did his best to put on a brave face, but he knew the facade wasn't as convincing as he wished.

Axel looked like a kid at Christmas, ignoring Roxas' protests all the way up to the front of the line. "Hey, how bad could it be?" He asked, resting his head in blonde locks and wrapped his arms around the blonde's small waist the rest of the way. after waddling through the flocks of people he would reluctantly let go, taking Roxy's hand instead as they were seated and secured in the two man seat of the coaster. "It'll be fine."

Roxas had never been so torn. Waiting in line was absolute perfection, having Axel's arm secured around his waist, his long red silky strands smelled sweet as his nose inhaled paopu scented shampoo. When it was time to climb aboard, Roxas could feel his heart in his throat. He felt terrified in a way words couldn't express, and his thoughts froze inside his head as he followed the ride operators instructions two times over to ensure he wouldn't fly off the ride and be the first person ever to die.

He knew what he was doing by having them both go on the terrifying ride to Roxas, after eight years of friendship it was hard not to know just how bad the blonde's anxiety was in that moment. Axel would wait until they headed into the tunnel before securing his an arm tightly around his waist, pulling him close enough that Roxas could lay his head on the Red head's chest. The anticipation of the ride was thrilling, never knowing when they would drop, but having his long time crush so close was a thousand times better.

Roxas did his best to control his rapid pulse, but the dark tunnels made his loud rushed breaths all the more audible. He leaned into Axel's embrace, trying to convince himself that the good in that moment could outweigh the bad. With the distraction of Axel's long, strong, lean arm around him, Roxas imagined himself somewhere else. Somewhere far away from coaster tracks and twisted turns, and sudden drops. That's what Roxas feared the most. The sudden drop was inevitable but he didn't want to think about it. Before he could tell himself to stop thinking about it, he experienced it.

"Fuck!" Roxas screamed before he lost oxygen at the rate the coaster dropped downward. His eyes couldn't close, his mouth couldn't inhale air, and his stomach rose within his body as he actually wondered if he could have a heart attack in the middle of a ride.

Axel would hold the blonde tightly, he had been on this ride more times than he could count, almost memorizing the layout of the turns and drops that were bound to happen. when he felt the drop coming he would wrap his free arm around the blonde, yelling and laughing as the G force made their stomachs churn every which way. when the drops and turns settled down he would relax some, resting his elbows on the safety bar as they came to a mellow and high part of the roller coaster, higher than the Ferris wheel. "Look Roxy." He cooed, his large fingers entwining with the blonde's soft hand as he pointed out at the beautiful clearing.

"No, no I don't want to look, please don't make me, I can't open my eyes!" Roxas couldn't open his eyes even if he wanted to. His throat had gone hoarse with all of the screaming but he didn't want to embarrass himself further with Axel right next to him. With more encouragement from the redhead, Roxas slowly parted his eyelids, his body shaking nervously as he heard the ticking of the tracks moving upward further and further. "Oh shit!" Roxas felt like he was either going to faint, or puke, and he wasn't sure which would be worse on a downwards traveling roller coaster. His arms wrapped tightly around Axel's arm and squeezed tighter than a starved boa constrictor around its dinner. With a last second look to Axel for reassurance, Roxas held his breath.

"Shh... It's okay. The ride's almost over." He reassured the blonde, letting him hold on as tight as he wanted, ignoring the tingling of his arm as it went numb. It was a pretty sight to see, but Roxas was far too nervous to notice, so instead Axel would lean in and kiss his pink lips gently. It was a long kiss, one where he would coax Roxas' soft pink ones to massage against his, even getting bold enough to swipe his tongue over the subtle bottom lip of his partner before the final and longest drop of the ride was upon them. He used the opportunity to slip his tongue into the perfect mouth of the blonde, massaging their pink muscles together in a very literal breathtaking kiss.

Roxas was more than grateful that his longtime best friend and now date was smart enough to use a kiss to distract him from what gravity caused. When the coaster started its movement downward, his mouth gave a natural part, permitting Axel inside as he pleased. He relaxed enough to loosen his grip on the taller mans arm, but not enough to let go completely. His eyes squinted further shut as the wind traveling up his face made him fear crashing into the ground below, but it wasn't long until the ride slowed down to the end. With just seconds left until sweet freedom, Roxas broke himself away from the kiss.

Axel couldn't help but laugh at the blonde's reaction, setting his feet on the solid ground, but still had one arm around Roxas. "Yeah it's fine, though you sound a little rusty there." He said, commenting on his hoarse voice. Acid eyes scanned the park, heading over to the nearest shaved ice stand. It had only rained enough to make it hot and muggy, and the cold sugary treat would feel good both in the heat and on his cute blonde... boyfriends'? throat. Mentally making a note to ask where they stand later, he would buy two o the shaved ice cones, knowing right off the bat which flavors Roxas likes. "Well well, We've both faced our fears today. what would you say about calling it early and hanging out at home instead?" He asked nonchalantly. He paused for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows. "That was a bit more suggestive than intended." He clarified, taking a bit of the cherry shaved ice in his hand. Even the heat loving man hated the humidity.

Roxas felt a sudden blush creep on his cheeks upon Axel's preposition, but he didn't want to show it. "Ha, yeah, I was confused but, uh, it's a good thing you cleared that up for me. That was super awkward!" Roxas laughed, a bit more loudly than he would have liked, contributing to the awkwardness. He immediately shied right up to compensate for the over the top fake smile he forced himself to have and took too big a bite of his frozen treat. "Mm!" He yelped through closed lips as brain freeze set in. He tried to hold in his panic to avoid being ostracized by his best friend, and possibly even boyfriend.

Axel smiled and chuckled when Roxas shied up, ruffling his blonde locks up and took another bite of his shaved ice. "Hey, just cause we like each other doesn't change the fact that we're best buds you know." He chided, holding up his hands in mock innocence. "It's perfectly acceptable to suggest we hang in your living room and chill. and maybe do a bit more while we're at it." He said, his flame red eyebrows waggling before he got up, leaving the poor blonde to compose himself.

A/N: We just realized that today was Akuroku day. And naturally, that meant we had to push out the very first chapter of our first collab story! This is going to be very different and exciting.

We hope ya'll are having an awesome day! Ten years of AkuRoku is pretty amazing.

May your AkuRoku day be filled with Yaoi! Living Legacy, Silent Sacrifice, Sarabellum

Please review and have a wonderful rest of Akuroku day! SarCastic HypoCrite


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